Well-Deserved Bonus in LAUSD

Teachers, clerks, custodians and every other employee of the huge Los Angeles Unified School District could pocket a 2% bonus this school year after working for five years without a raise. The one-time-only payment isn’t much--an estimated $1,000 for a top-rated, $50,000-a-year veteran teacher--but it would allow employees who have suffered through tough fiscal times to share in California’s economic recovery.

The March bonus would go to all of the district’s 60,000 employees. The proposal to spread the extra cash around has not yet been approved by all unions or the school board, but the leaders of the powerful teachers union have already blessed the deal.

The teachers took an 8% pay cut in 1991 and have since received salary restitution in three installments but did not make up the amount of the cut until this year. Two other unions are expected to want more than the 2% bonus for their members.

The special payment is expected to cost $42.5 million. District officials believe they can cobble together that amount because Sacramento has been more generous with public schools this fiscal year due to higher than expected state revenues.

Furthermore, most state allocation formulas are based on the number of students, and enrollment and attendance are up in the LAUSD, which means even more money from Sacramento. The increase in discretionary money should permit district officials greater flexibility in shifting funds around to underwrite the bonuses.

While the school board and officials could spend the additional state money on a welter of competing needs, it’s proper and fair at this time to give a bonus to teachers and other employees who were forced to take cuts when the state’s fiscal picture was at its worst. They should benefit now that California’s financial climate has improved.